Various types of image producing kiosks are well known, and have been referred to by various names, for example, photo kiosks or photo booths. These image producing kiosks are typically located in a public area so as to be readily accessible to the user (e.g., the passerby, consumer) to provide the user with an opportunity to interact with the kiosk to form/produce an image. For convenience of discussion, the term “kiosk” will hereinafter be used to refer to the various types of image producing kiosks. The image product formed/produced by the kiosk (e.g., the image bearing product) for the user could be in the form of a print or enlargement. The kiosk might include an enclosed area in which to pose for an image, a partially enclosed area, a partially open area, or be fully open for posing. An example of a commercially available kiosk is the Kodak Picture Maker™ available from Eastman Kodak Company. Features of this kiosk include scanning of prints and the creation of reprints and enlargements from the scanned print. Optional input devices for this kiosk include a digital film scanner, a camera memory card reader, a CD reader/writer, and a tethered digital camera. Further features of this kiosk include the ability to add borders and manipulate the image to increase the personal value and enjoyment of the image.
Computer systems which are networked allow for the sending and receiving of files to/from a remote location. Kiosks can be similarly networked, whereby images may be sent to and received from a remote location. While kiosks can be networked, the user of the kiosk may wish to provide the image bearing product produced by the kiosk as a gift/memento/keepsake for another person (hereinafter, the recipient) located remotely from the kiosk. If the image bearing product is being provided as a gift, the user will desire to pay for the product, and as such, the payment is provided remotely from the receipt of the gift. For example, the user located in California may wish to provide an image to a business associate (the recipient) located in New York. Thus, there exists a need to be able to collect payment from the user at a first location, to provide the image bearing product produced using the kiosk by the user to a recipient located at a remote location, and to ensure that the image bearing product is provided only to the intended recipient. Accordingly, a need continues to exist for a method by which networking can be used to provide image bearing products and by which a remote purchase can be made.